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I was having a delightful conversation with an older lady from Jamaica (previously Bahamas) and asked if she was dealing with arthritis or other joint issues. She laughed and said: “oh no dear child, I was raised using some stuff my momma made from coconut oil with nutmeg and West Indies bay soaking in it. We used it on us and our dog and horse when they were limping or had gotten in a fight. My brothers used it a lot when they were teenagers but their dogs got it put on too.” Why the dogs? “Stupid guys would have their dogs fight until somebody yelled at them. The dogs soon learned not to lick it due to the taste though.”

Nutmeg or myristica fragrans, grows plentifully in the tropical areas and has a covering that is steam distilled or dried to make mace. Same part of the plant with different compounds. Most Aromatherapists are taught that nutmeg is to be avoided due to the narcotic compound, myristicin. The concentration of this in the essential oil is about 5% making it fairly low as compared to the other compounds.

Some humans have decided to see if they could get high on the oil and/or powder. Mind set being strange as it was, they did get somewhat high but also violently sick to the stomach. Serves them right.

I have been using nutmeg oil when treating dogs who have hip dysplasia as well as arthritis or, as the poor beastie is getting old, the aches and pains that slow down fetching a ball or getting up the stairs. I usually combine the nutmeg with black pepper and lemon. The combination decreases pain and increases mobility with concentration at about 2%. I tend to keep my essential oil concentrations 2% or lower unless I’m putting yarrow on an open wound. Then it’s straight on, assuming you have a good quality essential oil and a beautiful dark blue colour.

For a time, at my clinic, I was wondering if the only beings I was treating were animals of all sizes – cats, dogs, horses and birds.

The birds were usually having breathing issues and so nutmeg along with black spruce, Canadian balsam and a touch of peppermint dripped onto a tissue in the cage made a world of difference. Since it wasn’t direct application onto the birds, the oil blend was neat. This is very similar to what I use on humans for asthma.

Believe it or not, horses for all their great size, have a very touchy liver – about the same as a wee baby. Therefore, concentrations are kept low. An owner came to me with the problem that her “Baby” had gotten tangled in barbed wire and was most unhappy. Baby was a Clydesdale and weighed 2500 pounds. His blend was nutmeg, yarrow, copaiba and benzoin at a 2% concentration that she could spray onto the injured areas. Her comment was that the stuff from the vet made him angry and stung. The blend didn’t sting and, in fact, made him very calm to be around for her grandchildren. The wounds healed so rapidly that she wanted to know if there was any danger if the blend was sprayed across his chest before the kidlets were going to be playing around him. Answer: no, not at that concentration.

I did have one person who had the essential oil of nutmeg for themselves after they had done the Grouse Grind (an extremely strenuous hike up a ski hill in summer) use the oil straight onto their horse’s strained fetlock. They applied it 3 times a day with the vet just shrugging his shoulders. Everything was healed within a very short time. I recommended that the oil should have been mixed into a lotion the next time since while it does help the digestive system and liver function, it’s usually best to keep concentrations lower just to be safe.

This is an oil that counters both respiratory and digestive spasms. So, for colic and gas from the horse eating too much oats or getting into something they shouldn’t have, use nutmeg oil along with copaiba and peppermint at about 1% concentration to calm things down. It can be applied to the chest and gut areas or go after the spine where the nerves are. Bear in mind that the peppermint in cold winter might not be the best.

Overall, I feel this is a great oil to carry along for my humans as well as critters. Just please keep it of delicate tissues or around the face. The volatile compounds transfer through toilet paper I discovered when I had used it on my elbow and not washed hands properly before using the toilet.

Essential Oils are, as you all know, highly concentrated. It takes pounds of plant material to make small amounts of essential oils. An animal may not have problems with the plant, but can have a bad reaction to the oil. For instance, arnica infusion is fabulous but the essential oil is toxic. Natural does not always mean it is safe for an animal. In the wild, animals instinctively go to plants to help them. Essential oils can be used the same way. In the beginning, you want to dilute the oils. Using one (1) drop for 25 pounds of body weight is a good guide to follow, or seven (7) drops for 1oz of water or carrier oil. You may use less. This ensures the safety of sensitive animals. So far cats and birds are the only animals we know of that need more special attention. Here is where you may find that one (1) drop of essential oil per one (1) ounce of water or carrier oil is better for a cat. Also, individual animals may prefer some oils over others. Even if an oil is listed okay for that species, this does not mean it is right for your animal. Always check in with your pet to make sure that the oils you are using are okay with them. However, I have found that my animals are like little kids betimes, they don’t like what is good for them.

Emotions and Animals

There is one thing that has become clear with our work on essential oils and our pets. Animals are extremely sensitive creatures to emotional energy. As a part of your family, they tend to want to take care of everyone around them. The problem is that they do not release it. So little is known about this. We have literally witnessed animals run in front of cars or just run away because the emotional debris that they carry is too strong and overwhelming for them. This is when energy work and noticing where the animal holds the emotional debris becomes helpful to their well being. Essential oils are wonderful tools to help clear emotional debris from your animals.

Using the Oils on Dogs and Horses

Dogs and horses are similar to humans and tend to handle a variety of essential oils well. Animals appreciate the essential oils you introduce to them. Some dogs will ask for oils if they feels they need them for aches and pains or other issues. They will go into the oil area and stays until their human gets the message to follow.

There are a couple of ways that I prefer to choose essential oils for animals:
1. Scientific/historical – most of the oils have been used for centuries on and around animals and humans. There are scientific studies to back what the farmers/herbalists always knew.

2. Smelling – Rub a few drops of essential oil onto the palms of your hands, offer your hands to the horse or dog, and notice their reaction. Do they inhale deeply? Does their tail wag or sway? Do their nostrils flare? Or do they walk away or turn their head? Never force an oil on your animal. However, bear in mind that dogs and cats like antifreeze

Blends

Essential oils can always be used singularly. However, most therapists find that combining oils creates a “synergy” that enhances the benefits. It is easy to combine essential oils. You can use fixed oils to dilute the essential oils which will allow them to go further and create safety from burning oils. Or you can mix essential oils with water and alcohol to make misters. Drops are based on a dog’s size: 1 drop of essential oil per 25 pounds of weight, or 7 drops of essential oil(s) per one (1) ounce of carrier oil or water.
Safe & Popular Oils
Basil, sweet – pulmonary, muscular, and emotional issues
Black Spruce – respiratory problems, insect repelling, wound healing, muscle & joint problems
Canadian Spruce – respiratory, muscle & joint issues, insect repellant

Mix into 250 mls (8 oz) non greasy carrier then gently massage onto cranky area of muscle or joints. Will assist in improving arthritic joint mobility as well as stimulating healing of torn muscles or ligaments

There are many, many things reminding women and their partners to check for lumps in their breasts and to get pap smears done and most of us try to take care of things in those areas. Our doctors are becoming, for the most part, aware of the seriousness of what can happen when lumps and nodules go awry. But what about the guys and their lumps and bumps? Whilst there aren’t as many men with “breast” cancer (10% of all cases are guys) and they most certainly won’t be showing up with ovarian or uterine or cervical cancers, they can have major problems with their prostate.

Up to very recently, prostate problems were regarded as old men’s issues and it was the unusual doctor that actually did an annual exam on a guy. Yes, they joke about farting and writing in the snow, but try to talk about the prostate or that area of a guy not working, well, whoa now, don’t be going there! Some nasty data is emerging about the average age of problems showing up. Would you believe early 30’s? And as a female with a male in the house (not one of my cats they’re both girls), I know that he had quite a problem with getting his doctor to take things to the right end of the exam. I figured his doctor was afraid of doing it because then he would have to get it done himself.

What can we as therapists do to help prevent problems from “arising” or showing up? Mind you, that is one of the problems insofar as, things don’t rise up the way they used to when the guys and body parts were younger. In our case (female that is) if we have a bladder problem, that’s pretty much all it is. You know bladder + kidneys = water works. For our males, well, they’ve got a gland that can (forgive the pun) screw things up. Just a side note, the female version of the prostate is called the skene’s gland but that’s for another time.

The prostate gland’s function is to secret a slightly alkaline fluid, milky or white in appearance, which usually constitutes 20 – 30% of the volume of the semen. In human prostatic secretions, the protein content is less than 1% and includes enzymes and prostate-specific antigen but also zinc with a concentration of 500 – 1,000 times the concentration in blood. Normally, this glad is supposed to be about the size a walnut and should weigh in at about 11 grams. The urethra runs through the prostate and gets checked out via a digital exam through the rectum. So, imagine what happens to the water works should this little gland swell. Decreased urine output with back up into the kidneys. But since it’s situated at the exit point of the digestive system, well, that gets into trouble also. Mind you, in this case bigger isn’t better.

When the prostate gets enlarged, erections become unstable or not happening at all. Now, for us females, our body’s lack of response can be countered with lubrication or increased stimulation (decreased stress too). To a guy, there is no denying when the penis isn’t responding. Emotionally, this can be devastating to both parts of the couple. Outside of that impact, the impact on the excretory systems can be disastrous, even life threatening. A visit to a doctor is recommended. However, there are oils that can be a great help in getting things back in balance and working. Bear in mind (or in body), the blends won’t/can’t do anything if the guys doesn’t use them more than once in a blue moon. If he’s serious about getting things functioning better and ideally without surgery, he going to have to use the blends a couple of times a day probably for the rest of his life. But it all comes down IF he uses the blends.

The blog for December 5th, 2011 has several good, tried and tested blends that you can down load for your references. The blends below are different again. I’m using major phyto hormones in these and, with the exception of the cookie blend, shouldn’t be used by females since studies have shown that the hops and the vitex will mess up female hormone balances. The rose oil which contains fairly high levels of phyto-estrogens is being used extensively in France in the treatment of prostate cancers.

Funny how things work almost together but in a negative way. This time of year, the weather swings between winter and spring. The springlike days give us a bit of bubbly happy in our step but the winterlike days are downers. This combination wreaks havoc on our immune systems with the alien, nasty viruses that show up. Worse than that, tho, is the hit it makes on our stress factors.

When we look at the increased stress from the “who knows how we should dress today” weather to the typical I’m exhausted because my body doesn’t know if I’m to go back to hibernation for another several weeks and then the viruses that drag on and on. Well, it’s no wonder that our hypothalamus sends out the seek and destroy message to the auto immune or leukocytes (white blood cells) whose main purpose is to protect or defend the body from antigens or invaders. Problem is stress in’t an entity to seek and destroy. However, our white cell “police” have been told to attack something. So, they do. In one type of attack, the leukocytes (or glial cells in the brain) attack the myelin surrounding the nerves, in particular, the motor nerves. The effect is similar to getting the plastic insulation surrounding the wires in the walls of our houses. Can we say “short circuit”? In our houses, this causes a circuit breaker to kick off. In our bodies, the electrical impulses can’t get through causing a disruption in function of our muscles. Many times (but not always) there is pain caused by this electrical impulse disruption since they are of chemical type in our bodies and spill out into surrounding tissues.

Yeah, and then what? Well, depending on the stress responses, life and the person’s own emotional reactions to the hindered functions, the attacks can come and go until they kill the patient. Not a great future. And, as we all know, you can’t tell a person who’s looking at this future “just chill out and calm down”. But, hey, remember what we as Aromatherapists are all about? We specialize in countering stress – right or wrong? Of course we do. AND we stimulate the lymph aka the plasma that carries the lymphocytes or non auto immune. These white cells are incapable of attacking ourselves – wrong programming or response by the auto immune. The lymphocytes and the brain can bring the leukocytes or auto immune in control.

First step in treating any auto immune disorder, be it MS or lupus or diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis, is to counter the stress surrounding the person. Yes, we could tell them to do yoga and meditate and those will help. Those things will take a fair while to really show their impact as those are more of a re-training lifestyles. What we must needs do is to change their mind’s response to what it considers stress or rather too much stress. Am I crazy talking? Hey, it’s fun to break the rules in a positive way. Something I have done to my dear mother and other symps whose bodies are out of their control is to make a strong blend using only psyches. I think I’m up to 37 different psyche oils presently tho I think I only used 20. I got stoned happy mixing the blend and decided it was a good thing I was only putting two drops of each since that’s about all I could count to. What those for whom I was blending felt: “Mmm that’s such a nice smelling blend. My goodness, people (or your father in the case of my mother) are so easy to deal with right now. Must be the weather! Oh, yes, my body doesn’t feel too bad either.”

For things like MS, lupus or fibro where the auto immune is chewing on muscle, liagments, nerves and such, I like to do a scrub using dead sea salt (it’s low in sodium and their bodies have too much) – the friction from the salt stimulates lymph flow and balances neuron voltage which is critical to work on the areas of short circuit or trigger point attacks. Then follow with a lotion that has psyches but also lymphatic stimulants such as a citrus like orange along with benzoin or frankincense or linden blossom. You can add a middle note like rosewood (good recycling) to help balance chemistry. By the by, some of my blends won’t necessarily have a top note since the problem is a chronic one rather than acute when dealing with auto immune.

Bottom line, everyone should be using a daily stress blend to counter everything that’s hammering at them day and night. In times gone by, everybody had the evening to do stuff at home without deadlines and the overload of information. Remember how, the last time you took a holiday or break it took a week to finally relax? And, sometimes, that was the end of the time off? What the blends are doing is helping the entire being recover from all the adrenaline surges and create recharge which, in turn, improves survival rates for all. You know, random acts of kindness allowed. hugs to all

There are times when all of us are so doggone tired we have trouble putting one foot ahead of the other or even eating. But, if this isn’t a one or two time thing, then maybe a visit to the doctor’s and then the lab would be a good idea. Quite possibly you are anemic or lacking the heme which makes the red blood cells hemoglobin. Heme is a protein (or amino acid) attached to a form of iron which grabs onto oxygen. The oxygen gets transported to the cells in our bodies via the red blood cells. Well, at least those containing heme. So, yes, it’s possible to be running out of oxygen soon after getting out of bed.

Is there a problem with being in this state (I mean other than being tired)? Actually, yes. There is an accepted level of hemoglobin in our bodies – number is 120 to 150 for females and 140 – 170 for males (the other way of reading those numbers is to drop the zeroes. So, 12 to 15 and 14 to 17.) Iron deficiency early in childhood can have long-term effects on mental development that may be irreversible. An iron deficient person would not have all of these symptoms, but some of them. With 5 or more, consider iron problems.

Depression

Fatigue

Listlessness, weakness, decreased work productivity

Impaired learning and cognitive function

ADD and ADHD type behavioral disturbances

Developmental delay in infants and young children

Poor memory

Decreased attention span and increased distractibility

Impaired reactivity and coordination

Irritability

Dizziness

Appetite loss

Cravings for non foods such as ice, dirt or clay

Constipation

Difficulty swallowing (because low iron may cause a thin membrane to grow across the esophagus)

Joint soreness

Night time leg cramps

Asthma

Sores on skin, or itching

Poor wound healing

Can cause excessive menstrual bleeding

Hair loss (LOW IRON IS A FREQUENTLY OVERLOOKED CAUSE OF HAIR LOSS)

Headaches

Sore or burning tongue

Soreness in corners of the mouth

Brittle, flat, or spoon shaped nails, ridges on nails

Heart palpitations on exertion

Shortness of breath

Cold extremities, with decreased resistance to cold and poor regulation of body temperature

Enhanced heavy metal absorption and risk for toxicity. Those with low iron will have an increased GI absorption of metals which is not specific for iron, so will absorb more lead, cobalt, cadmium, mercury. High blood levels of lead are more common in children with low iron.

Iron is a major player in multiple bodily processes and is needed for the function of about 100 enzymes and coenzymes in your body. There is the mistaken belief that if you do not have anemia you have enough iron.

Teenagers are at risk because of rapid growth rates, and poor eating habits.

Menstruating women, especially those with heavy periods. Menstrual bleeding is one of the most common causes of low iron. Such women require twice as much iron as do men. Thirty five-fifty percent of young otherwise healthy women have some degree of iron deficiency. .

Athletes in training, as they may have exercise induced iron loss, especially with endurance sports and body building

People with kidney failure or disease

People with worm infestation, or chronic parasites

The elderly have both decreased intake and absorption

People with conditions that predispose them to bleeding, such as gum disease or stomach ulcers, polyps or cancers of the bowel

Those with gastrointestinal disorders such as low or absent stomach acid, celiac disease, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s Disease, partial removal of the intestines

People taking aspirin as a regular medication

Those with low thyroid functioning

Those on chemotherapy

How To Treat

Let’s face it, I don’t think any of us are going to tell a vegetarian (anyone for that matter) to eat more meat. Or tell the symps who have such gut problems triggered by stress to “chill”. I’m going to give two separate blends – one for symps (those who react in the digestive system or get migraines) and one for paras (those who forget they have a body that might react to life). When treating the balanced, hey that’s easy: lemon, lavender and rose along with whatever psyches you like to counter stress. The blends are in 120 ml (4 oz) gel and lotion.

For a symp:

Orange 20 drops

Cypress 15 drops

Benzoin 12 drops

Frankincense 12 drops

Oakmoss and tonka bean (for cinnamon bun twist) or some other psyches adding up to 20 drops. The psyches are to help the hypothalamus be happier in spite of life.

For a para:

Lemon 20 drops

Palma Rosa 20 drops

Fennel 15 drops (if dealing with a persons with a seizure disorder use Geranium)

Lab Tea 12 drops

Psyches adding up to 20 drops. Honeysuckle and Hyacinth will sweeten it. Oakmoss and Tonka Bean will make it more earthy and foody.

The person should apply a small dab across the upper abdomen and lower back 2 – 3 times per day. That way they are covering the liver and kidney areas which are the critical players in the development of the hemoglobin.

My experience has shown that within a couple of days the blood counts start rising. Yes, that’s even if they’re on chemo.

I had a person who was needing open heart surgery and, due to the fact that he was a vegan, had very low hemoglobin counts. He used the blend every hour throughout the day and shocked the eyeballs out of his cardiologist when, within 24 hours, had turned the count from 83 to 130. The specialists were convinced that somehow or another he had gotten a blood transfusion – NOT! They waited another day to wait for the counts to really get up there and then did the surgery with fabulous results.

By the way, just a point to reassure you, in case you’re worried about the oils stimulating a person’s blood counts over the top …. they won’t. According to medical specialists and my own experiences, the oils will take the body to proper homeostasis only.

Dear Jennine: I am wondering which essential oils are safe to take internally? Any way that I can put them in something for my love in the middle of this topsy turvy winter that will make him more romance inclined and less hanging out with the guys? thanks, a lonesome therapist.

Dear Lonesome: Depending on your essential oil supplier, (if you are getting them from me no problem cuz I have them all either wild crafted or eco-cert) you can ingest most all of them. Some, like eucalyptus, shouldn’t be taken internally due to the chemical reaction they have with the saliva and digestive enzymes found in the mouth and throat. Some also have really high levels of ketones and need to be treated with extreme care.

I have discovered that some like sandalwood and tonka bean are really, really bitter even in teensy weensy doses. Like 1/4 tsp of tonka bean into a taffy recipe which contained 3 c. white sugar along with corn syrup – well, let’s just say that it was inedible and left a really nasty taste in my mouth that took quite some time to get rid of. Why did I try the tonka bean? According to my research, it is used primarily by perfumers and food people. Most of us have the the delightful (a touch of sarcasm here) experience of using a mouth wash using myrrh and/or tea tree – neither of left one of those refreshingly pleasant after tastes. Yes, they’re good for us but ….yuck as for the residual taste.

So, for romance, foods and all that, I shall focus on the nice tasting and really quite good for stress, moods and inclinations being helped in the right direction. Oh, just a bit of a reminder for the gals reading this and are wanting to motivate their guys – licorice has long been a testosterone stimulator/turn on for that gender (pumpkin pie also but that’s a trifle difficult to match with the oils, still working on it). For us, of course, it’s chocolate and vanilla. I figured if I could combine two of those scents/flavours in a dish it would be great for everybody.

Grease a 9×5 inch pan. Set aside.
In a 3 quart saucepan, over very low heat, mix together confectioners sugar, butter, milk, vanilla, and salt until mixture is creamy and smooth – suggestion: cook to that point and then add 5 more minutes to finish the sugar cooking process. Once removed from heat, stir in essential oils.
Pour quickly into greased 9×5 inch pan. Best to cut into 1 inch squares prior to cooling. Refrigerate until firm. Once cool, simply tip pan upside down onto counter or plate rather than trying to scoop out of pan. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator, can be frozen and then one or two hauled out to nibble on when needing that fix.

clementine is steam distilled and has a lighter, bubbly scent BUT flavour is much, much less bitter than the other citrus

If you don’t care for the licorice taste, substitute with 40 drops rosa centifolia and 20 drops almond eo for the aniseed and star anise. If you’re making this for you (and you really, really love the scent) you could put 20 drops lavender as well as the rose.

If you wish to create these as an appeteaser, use rosemary 30 drops, litsea 40 drops and basil 40 drops and serve prior to dinner. It is a sweet savory bite that works well with some wine or sparkling water. For those who follow the rule of eating their sugary foods prior to the eating of proteins – there you go.

Good For You Bar Cookies

1/2 c each red lentils and brown rice – cook individually then put into food processor along with following:

I ended up putting this in two cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and then baked at 350 for 35 minutes. Criteria was high fibre and medium protein and low sugar but had to taste good. Enjoy.

To create a flavoured beverage as a substitute or replacement for an alcoholic drink, get a teaspoon of your citric acid/baking soda mix and add 5 drops juniper berry, 6 drops lime or pink grapefruit, mix well and add a pinch to cold water (you might want to add some xylitol or sugar syrup). Tastes like a gin and tonic but incredible for fluid retention and tummies.

Enjoy playing. Just remember that the oils are the plant’s immune system and, therefore, not sweet the way the plant may be. Have fun scented ones.

Jennine: I have a question, my children are often sick (Sept to April) usualy, having problem with ear pain, and bronchitis, sinus,what do you recommend? I am presently using Raversara, Inul, Myrtle, Eucalyptus Radiata, Rosewood, Poplar (I am switching some time off oils) I use them directly on body with vegetable oils and also as suppo one a day – thanks ~ mom therapist

Well mom therapist: Just to help other therapists, these kids are all under teens. First off, a blend that helps boost their overall immunity and counter stress from life, try using a daily blend on the kids under their jaw and on their cheeks such as (120 ml lotion) poplar 16 drops, benzoin 16 drops, rosewood 24 drops and orange 32 drops. I would smooth a small amount on just before putting them to bed. You could actually do this after breakfast also so that they start their day with re-enforcement for their immune systems.

Something else I’ve found helpful for myself is to put two or three drops of black spruce on the pillow before I get into bed. You should allow a few minutes from the time of dripping the essential oil before putting their heads on the pillow just to make sure that they don’t come into direct skin contact with the spruce on the pillow.

Now medical researchers insist that we basically have to experience all 100 or so of the different cold viruses. However, according to researchers, every 10 years the influenza virus (and most of the others) go through a dramatic mutation. Oh, just to be totally non-encouraging and frustrating, there have been over 2,000 different plant, animal and bacterial viruses (these are viruses that actually live on bacteria) discovered since 1955. Personally, I have no wish for kids (or anyone else for that matter) to have to experience all those beasts. So let’s examine how and why our bodies allow those beastly bugs in.

Your head aches, and so does every muscle in your body. You’re cold one minute and hot the next. Your throat is scratchy and you’re starting to cough. You might be coming down with the flu aka influenza. So, you (or someone else perhaps) sneeze or cough and, unless your face is totally covered, there is a diffusion or spreading of minuscule droplets into the air around you. The droplets of the “right” size (thought to be about 1.5 micrometers in diameter) remain airborne and are breathed into the nose or lungs of the next victim. Situations in which people are crowded together are more common in cold or wet weather –and so perhaps this contributes to spreading the flu at these times. It is interesting that in equatorial countries, flu occurs throughout the year, but is highest in the monsoon or rainy season. Mind you, the proper cough etiquette really helps. You know, coughing onto your sleeve instead of covering your mouth with your hand since the sleeve fabric will trap more of the evil droplets.

With that in mind, a light misting of an anti-viral blend such as laurel, myrtle and frankincense would be helpful. Suggestion: in container 1/4 tsp. citric acid, 1/2 tsp. baking soda (aka sodium bicarbonate) laurel 8 drops, myrtle 8 drops, frankincense 4 drops and orange 8 drops (this helps with the stress). Mix well and pour into a spray bottle 120 ml size, then add purified water gradually allowing the foaming action to disperse before topping up. Mist this lightly across face (eyes closed please), shirt and jacket (if wearing one). If a scarf is going to be used, I’d suggest a light misting on that too. Be aware that if it’s horribly cold and nasty outside, let this dry a bit before going out.

You know, when I get a single request for a type of blend, well, that’s fine. But when I get several requests for the same thing within a week, I figure I had better figure out what’s going on. So, what I have been requested for this past week is some sort of mouth wash or rinse to counter mouth sores aka herpes infection (which is not something I had much requests for before now.) Then I remembered something from my days of working with anatomy and physiology lessons: that the mouth is actually the beginning of the digestive system.

This then led me to question my own reasoning when making up the mouth blends. When we were all beginning to learn about the oils most of our instructors had us do some kind of rinse using either myrrh or tea tree. And, for the vast majority of us, it wasn’t something we really enjoyed especially the after taste. Heaven forbid that you had to try this out just prior to eating since everything then tasted rather unpleasant. Sometimes we tried using peppermint essential oil to rinse with and, depending on how strong we made it, had a numb mouth and throat. Now this is great if your throat is sore but otherwise not really that desired. But I digress, when we create a mouth rinse or wash, shouldn’t we actually be treating the entire digestive system and not just the mouth? After all, we learned that by the time an infection, be it viral or bacterial, shows up noticeably there already has been a war from within the gut and the good guys didn’t win.

Another thing that we have learned, yes I know you know this but I’m just reminding you since your brains are all so busy with everything else that they can’t possibly remember everything, unless a person is stressed out they won’t get sick or catch any nasty little bug. Remember that? Well, it appears that when treating the mouth sore or gum problem, the therapist has to address the whole stress reaction – I had forgotten that detail. My bad.

Okay, so here’s a mouth rinse/wash blend that actually tastes quite good and I’m utilizing a natural sweetener that creates an inhospitable environment for the bacteria that cause cavities as well as the one that creates strep throat. The name of this fabulous product is: xylitol. It’s made from fibrous tree bark, fruit and vegetables and is a complex carb with it being classed as an alcohol by chemistry.

Mix well then add 1/2 xylitol mixing well again. Use 2 tsp. per litre of purified water. I suggest that you keep this in the fridge since there isn’t any sort of preservatives in the water. OR you can simply add a pinch / 1/8 tsp per 250 ml purified water and have that as your slosh for the day. If you use this throughout the day, your breath will be fresher and your immunity to bugs much improved. What I find handy is to make up a 250 ml container but with the 2 tsp of mix and then carry a 30 ml bottle of that in my purse for the day. I put a generous squirt into my glass of water at the end of my meal or snack swish it in my mouth before swallowing. So, instead of mints at the end of my meal I have a drink that tastes almost like those ouzo candies the Greeks have – yum.

“Hello, I was given your name and told you made some creams and oils for pain. I’m looking for something for fibermyalgya and roomatoyd arthritic is that something you do. Let me know thanks. Mr. J”

“Hello again. It’s for wife. What is it called!! There are some oils she is already using. I’d pick up in surrey if we are going to purchase how ever need to know just what it is as she is allergic to a lot of things. Not looking for the receipt but if it’s grape seed and lavender marjoram rosemary peppermint eucalyptus and a couple of others we’ve tried that combo with no effect. thanks Mr. J”

That’s a couple of emails I had from this Mr. J (his name is not being used in order to protect their confidentiality and not embarrass the therapists he’s been dealing with). His wife has, as you noticed, fibro and rheumatoid arthritis. HOWEVER, she used to get migraines and both her appetite and bowel functions change under stress. For some of you, the oils he refers to would not be appropriate for his wife since they are sympathetic or adrenal stimulants and his wife is a sympathetic dominant nervous system. Everyone has to learn the difference between the two systems in their anatomy and physiology parts of most courses.

One of my best loved pain blends (which Mr. J heard about from a friend who has now gotten them from me) is as follows: equal parts of nutmeg, linden blossom, poplar, neroli and hyacinth. There are three para oils, one adaptable and one psyche. If I felt or knew that the pain is psychosomatic (as is the case of Mr. J’s wife) I will add another psyche or two such as narcissus and lotus. Just a gentle reminder that anything that is regarded as a stress or auto immune disorder is actually psychosomatic or brain generated on the body.

It is used in two ways: one is a 10ml neat in a glass roller bottle and its companion is in a lotion at 10% concentration (in other words 10 ml in 120 ml lotion). The people use these two in combination instead of using tylenol 3’s or worse. Because it’s stimulating the parasympathetic part of the nervous system, it actually is countering the stress responses. How well does it work? In most cases, after the first couple of days, people are using the lotion throughout the day and the neat one at night or in the middle of the night when pain wakes them. The oils I chose also assist in calming the voltage being given off by the pain nerves, at least, that’s what the studies out of the Mayo clinic and Europe are saying.

For some therapists, the idea of using the oils neat on anyone with the exception of lavender is totally contrary to what you’ve been taught. However, given the choice between helping a person deal with severe pain using oils which have wonderful side effects vs using some pharmaceuticals with disastrous side effects – what choice? In the UK where much Aromatherapy teaching started, the therapists aren’t allowed to treat. Here in Canada, many of those in the medical community expect us to be treating especially since the Natural Health Products Directorate got in place which puts our stuff as a form of medicine, thank goodness.